October 31, 2014

(This is a picture taken on the day Morgan arrived in the Missionary Training Center with the other missionaries who arrived with her.  There are normally 200 to 300 missionaries at all times at the Training Center.)

Well i love halloween so I am kind of depressed that they dont celebrate it here but oh well.

I wish i had super funny exciting stories to tell you all but it is honestly the same here every single day. I realized that I havent really told you about the elders in my district so ill do that.Elder madsen and Elder Hesselgesser. Botha re from utah except H is a cowboy. Like straight up cowboy. He greqw up on a rach herding sheep and doing all that fun stuff moms misses. But he loves it and wants have his own ranch when the mission is over. He is our district leader and hes just great. He actually has Brazilian citizenship because his mom is Brazilian so you think he would know portuguese right? Actually no. His mom has been speaking it to him every since he was little but he just decided to tune it out so now that hes older he is really kicking himself. hes awesome. one of my favorite elders. His companion madsen is a blond blue eyed elder and hes absolutely hilarious. he is tall and as skinny as a toothpick but literally has the wittiest comments that just make my day. he isnt as strong in the gospel and he has admitted that he leans on us. i love this kid. honestly  best spirit. (these two were on my plane and madsens parents went through security with him. the one i told you about)

elder de coursey and elder de hoyos. De Hoyos reminds me of Jace. they look the same and they are both super athletic. He spoke spanish before the mission so he caught on to the language super fast im just grateful that he has the patience to deal with all of us asking him questions cause we ask  A LOT. omg his laugh? is probably the best think ive ever heard. Its so contagious. he is a drummer so he is constantly banging on his desk but i dont mind.......

his companion is a little weird. hes just one of those super nerdy intelligent guys so he doesnt really know how to interact with people. he just does stupid things like sing really loud while we are all trying to study. or hell walk around and try to figure out how everything is put together. he does pick his nose and eat is occasionally and ive full on witnessed it. he farts ALL THE TIME. and its alwasy him becasue hes the only one who doesnt own up to it or doesnt smell it. so gross. we all get on him for it. but he is a super nice kid and sometimes says the funniest comments ive ever heard. ill share them later. these two are our zone leaders.

elder skinner and elder mochawki. m is from South africa like my comp but they didnt know eachother before. he has the best accent ever and he is an awesome guy. he does have his eyes on mikah though so im watching him carefully.... No but him and i are close. He loes when i sing so i sing to him all the time. one funny thing about mochawki is that while he is speaking portuguese, in the middle he'll say "what is it". its hilarious. elder skinner is by far the elder who knows tha most port. he literally knew everything by the first week so he is ready to get out of here and into the field. I think he gets frustrated with us sometimes because we ask him everything but he has a lot of patience too. He loves peanut butter so were friends. thats all i need to say. no but hes one of those super smart kids too who loved spongebob. you can say any line from that show and hell know what your talking about. children these days.

eder sterling and elder nickerson. elder sterling is elder pride. this week it got bad so we went and talked to the president. but when we were about to go in hesselgesser and madsen walked out and we knew that they came to talk about him too. the president met with sterling and its been great so far so idk what the president said to him but its working. Our president is amazing. idk if ive said that enough or given him enough credit but he is great. and sterling really isnt that bad. yes he gets on our nerves but so does everyone in some way. him and i actually were the first to really click in our district because he knows every single disney song ever made. so we sing all the time and de hoyos joins in. we have a blast. elder nickerson is the elder who is struggling the most in our district. the language still hasnt come and we are all trying to be supportive but he isnt really trying to learn on his own. like he wont look up the words himself hell just expect us to know everything. he is the only boy of 4 girls so he is so babied. like ridiculously babbied. he recieves hand written letters every day ad one day he got 11!! and the other day he got 8. i kid you not in the time we have been here hes probably gotten 30+ letters. its actually pathetic. hes a farm boy like hesselgesser and the only phrase he knows is "i wish i could just do this in english"

i love my elders. i really do. we are close and i am so sad to think about how i wont be with them after a week. i will cry i already know it.

one really cool thing that happened this week was that i was in a slump like i was last week and a sister who i became close with talked to me in her room. we were just talking about random things and then she told me about this super awesome experience she had in the temple and she continued to tell me that she has this gift of reading people. like she knows things that theyve never told her. so i was curious and was like "do me do me". bad choice. ok not bad but she knew things that i havent told anyone here. and i was like how does she know that?? and what she knows about people are not bad things. they are just private. And there is only one way/one person who could have told her these things. Christ. She says that she cant do it whenever she wishes and she cant do it to herself. he only lets her do it when it lifts others and i was fortnate enough to be one of those people. She told me things that only I had told Him, that I had earnestly prayed about. Ive never felt His love for me so strongly before. of course i was crying.

here are some of the things He advised me through her:

Dont be afraid of people anymore. Trust with all your heart and those walls will come down. When you open your heart the language will flow, your heart will be overwhelmed with love and joy for the people. Dont just take a step into the unknown, SPRINT into it knowing that HE will be there to catch you.

Literally the Lord is amazing. in so many ways.

love ya, sis harrick

Morgan and her companion from South Africa, Sister Presence, on P-Day (Preparation Day)

October 10, 2014

Editors Note:  I am late getting this post off because I am trying to figure out how to download the pictures.  Next post should have them.  For those of you not familiar with missionary work, the missionaries only have one day to wash clothes, write letters, relax, etc.  It's called P-Day which stands for Preparation Day.  

I know Morgan would love to hear from you.  She will be in the training center until mid-November.  Her address in the Missionary Training Center is:

Sister Morgan Harrick

Brazil Porto Alegre South Mission

Brazil Missionary Training Center

Rua Padre Antonio D'Angelo, 121

Casa Verde

02516-040 Sao Paulo - SP

Brazil

Here's Morgan:

Holy cow                                                                               

may i just start off by saying that i literally cannot type on these computes. they are ANCIENT.  I’m so glad that I have the opportunity to write. Friday is officially my p-day (preparation day). My whole district has been dying because it has been over a week and we never get a break so we are definitely loving p-day. Today we went to the Sao Paulo temple and is it beautiful! I absolutely love that I have the opportunity to go to the temple every week and feel the amazing spirit that thrives there. (no dad i forgot the picture but there are 4 weeks left!)

Ok first things first. My district:  there were a bunch of elders on my flight to Brazil that were super intimidating? Ya well they’re all in my district. How funny is that!! But man I love them. There are 10 of us. 8 elders, 2 sisters. We have some pretty great memories already and its only been a week! I’m so excited to spend 6 weeks with these guys! I kid you not when I say that we spend 12 hours in the classroom every day. We wake up at 6 to get ready and then we study from 7am to 9 at night. I’ts crazy.

Ok working out here is not working out. first off we didn’t even get to work out until monday, thats 5 days without any physical activity. not smart to keep 8 18 year old boys in a small room for 12 hours a day 5 days a week. So when Monday came I was super excited. Working out here is run three laps (not long at all) and then playing volleyball. And you’re not allowed to run longer because the supervisor has to see everyone and the track is held outside.

the food. is. awesome. sometimes. I think they really like to experiment here because there is literally cheese in/on everything. But most of it is pretty good. I try to eat vegetables and fruit at every meal and dessert is pretty gross because they turn everything into pudding. you think im kidding but cake was turned into pudding.

Next, my companion: She arrived late Wednesday night and she is awesome. She is 33 years old and from South Africa. I totally got excited when I found out when she was from there because I thought of Sister O'brien and how much I love her. Sister Persence is a cosmetologist so she has been doing my hair every day and it comes in pretty handy. I go to sleep with corn rows and wake up with waves. Oh, it is the life.

Our room is tiny. There is literally no space to put anything. and we have bunk beds so of course I’m on top because Sis P pulls the excuse thats shes too old and I kid you not that this bunk bed is 10 feet high. One of these days i am going to fall and seriously get injured.

My first week was amazing. Sorry to admit it but i was not homesick whatsoever. But did you catch the word WAS? Everyone comes in speaking portuguese and if you say anything in english they say "no falar ingles!" basically I don't speak English. They basically force you to speak portuguese which is awesome but I still don't have it down and it is super frustrating because an elder in our district already is fluent. Like how is that even fair. Another elder is pretty fluent as well and I just sit there frustrated as heck. I totally had a meltdown the other night because everything hit me at once. I got dad's letter. PLEASE SEND ME LETTERS. I LOVE THEM.  Letters are the best because we only have 30 minutes to write and i can't read all of the emails.

We have the best professor and when we tell all the older missionaries who we have they are so jealous. He is funny yet serious. Entertaining and a great teacher. He is 25 and really wants to get married.

Every day it blows my mind how much the Lord loves and knows each and every one of us. Like i was saying i had a meltdown because i was feeling super depressed and was very homesick missing all of you and I read dads letter and he wrote about sometimes we have to put on a happy face whether we are not feeling it. Its what we do in serving the Lord. I am so incredibly grateful for how in tune with the spirit my parents are. I literally needed that phrase at that exact moment. Same with the scriptures. 2 Nephi chapter 2 hit home for me this week. It is so awesome that I cannot even express my feelings.

I got to watch general conference in english THANK HEAVENS and wasnt it amazing? especially the Saturday sessions so mom and dad you got to watch those because i know that saturdays are way hectic.

LOVE YOU ALL SO SO SO SO MUCH

LOVE, SISTER HARRICK

Brazil, First Week, October 1, 2014

(Editors Note:  The reference to driving in Brazil was a story I told of when I served in Northeast Brazil which is a poorer region of the country.  The taxi drivers do not turn their headlights on at night because they think it runs out the bulbs, which I guess is true, but better to shine lights then end up in the morgue. To compensate at intersections the taxi drivers used to blink their lights a couple of times before flying through the intersection.  I don't know if I should have told Morgan that story!  Back to her:

hey hey hey!!

Well after a whole day of flying, I made it to Brazil in one piece!!

these computers are so weird so forgive me if some things are off!

My flight was good, it was long as they always are but I ended up with a middle seat and I was super dissapointed until the man asked if we could switch so he could sit next to his wife! Miracle number 1 in the mission!! I maybe got 3 hours of sleep so ill sleep well tonight for sure!!

Everyone here is so incredibly nice so I think that I will make lots of friends! I already met a sister who is going to my mission so hopefully we will be companions in the future!!

(Note:  This picture was taken the day Morgan arrived at the Missionary Training Center in Sao Paulo with the other missionaries who arrived the same day.  The Training Center houses about 200 to 300 missionaries at all times.)

My companion is not here yet and they said that an elder and sister missed the Atlanta flight so maybe thats her, or maybe shes coming later. I am now officially a missionary because i have my badge!! Oh it is an awesome feeling. I now represent the Lord in every way I act and in everything I say. A little pressure but I think I can handle it. Im so happy to be here. I was nervous and of course a mess hearing your vioces again but I know this is where I am suppose to be. I know I am going to grow and thrive here and I honestly cannot wait to start the language!!

But after a whole day of flying I just want to brush my teeth and take a long hot shower but im in the MTC and we get straight to work so Im not counting on that until tonight. Our room has three bunkbeds but for now Im in a threesome so idk if another pair are coming in or not. I think theyre the mission presidents and his wife in the MTc, they are great. Super nice and very very welcoming.

I miss you guys already but dont worry about me because the MTC is gated and it looks like we have guards, probably not though, so im totally safe.

Oh my gosh dad you were right. the driving here is absolutely crazy. I cant even imagine how it is at night... I secretly hope ill never have to experience that. The ambulances come on the freeway and go in between two lanes and the cars around just move into other lanes and I swear there were going to be at least 5 accidents.

It is so pretty here, green and the weather is absolutely perfect. There is a breeze and its not humid yet!!

Well I love you guys lots lots, ill talk to you on P day!!

with all the love in the world,

Sister Harrick

P.S. my baggage came through and yes they were all staring at me but I got over it...kind of

P.P.S. I have no idea where the apostrophe is so sorry for all the grammar errors!!